For centuries, scientists, writers, poets, and politicians have wondered: how will the world look in a few hundred years? Luckily, we know the answers to their questions, at least to some of them. The technological progress, which in the past has taken centuries to make, nowadays can be achieved (proportionally, of course) is merely a few dozen years. A good example of this phenomenon is the connectivity: the telegram-phone-radio-TV-internet-smartphone journey is always fascinating to analyze. The same process is already happening in the fashion market. How is the future clothing going to look, and what will its features be?
Step number one: expand the philosophy
In the 90s, a brilliant idea was developed: the Internet of Things (IoT). Its authors claimed that in the near future, the number of electronic devices connected to the Web will be much higher than their owners. This prophecy turned out to be true – that number is currently higher by almost 30%.
The impact of this reality on our lives has been tremendous. We are connected in various ways all the time – to the internet, to our friends and family, to our colleagues at work, even to our homes while we’re on vacation. With just a few taps on your smartphone, you can check the temperature at home, look into the CCTV camera footage, change the air humidity or set your cleaning robot to clean chosen rooms. Plain and simple.
But the IoT philosophy has not stopped there – future clothing is becoming an integral part of it. Its manufacturers know very well, that the connectivity potential of clothes is tremendous – especially due to the number of various sensors and features, which can be implemented into particular clothing. A good example of this philosophy in action is Jay23’s products – smart hoodies with heated pockets and smartphone charging capability. Some of them even have embedded earphones. The fact is, nowadays you can literally wear your music.
Step number two: choose the main connectivity aspect
It’s obvious that no piece of technology can serve every possible function. Multifunctionality is, of course, a very big asset of such devices as smartphones or smartwatches. But some of their functions either can be moved to (or duplicated by) other products and other issues – like charging – simply cannot be addressed by the device itself. And that’s where the future clothing comes in.
In designing a series of high-quality products, there’s always a need for a simple, general idea. And there’s a lot of ideas to choose from while creating high-tech clothing. Let’s take music, for example. Some of the Jay 23’s hoodies have focused on providing their wearers the best musical experience possible – by literally embedding the earphone wires into the fabric of the hoodies. That way, you always have your music with you. And no more losing your buds, which probably has happened to most of us.
But there are other ideas to choose from. One of them is generating heat and other means of power distribution. Heated pockets are present in many of Jay23’s projects, protecting its wearers from cold winds during snowy winters. Let’s not forget that the same battery which charges the heating pads, can be used to charge your smartphone. Quite ingenious and convenient.
Step number three: visuals. Let’s be tasteful
There are many visual styles, which have a lot of fans all over the world – minimalism, loft, industrial, and many more. Truth is, some of their manifestations are often likable just because they try to appeal to as many customers as possible – sometimes, they lack individual, unique characteristics.
And we can’t say that about Jay23’s visual choices. Their future clothing design draws heavily from video game aesthetics. It’s minimalist, but at the same time very individual. Sometimes, it reminds me of high-tech, urban steampunk, which is very fashionable and always fresh in many ways.
The proper balance between these three elements: philosophy, connectivity, and visual design, is starting a revolution in the clothing market. Who knows what ideas will be brought to life during next year – maybe invisible fabric?
